MAC students get covered walkway

POSTED: 06/19/13 12:32 PM

Minister of Education wants similar projects elsewhere

St. Maarten –“I would like to see projects like this replicated in every district,” Minister of Education Patricia Lourens said to a crowd of students, teachers, police officers, and the press yesterday at the unveiling of a covered walkway financed by GEBE for the students of MAC School in St. Peters. “The safety of children has always been my concern,” the minister added. She thanked everyone who helped realize the walkway and urged them to “tell others how to do more of these helpful projects in districts across St. Maarten.”

The project was a collaborative effort between GEBE and the landowners making it easier and safer for the kids to get to school. Community Officer Richards, who was closely involved, said that, “It was not possible without help from GEBE” and thanked Romelio Maduro, Chief Operations Officer of GEBE, for the company’s generous assistance. The MAC school choir then treated the minister and those gathered to a song.

Before the creation of the walkway, students either had the choice of traversing a hazardous slope or taking a longer, time consuming route to get to school. The new concrete and covered pathway gently slopes up from the open lot next to the gas station on L B Scot road and on towards the MAC school further up the hill making it safer and quicker for the kids to get to class, and sheltering them from the elements.